Mike Preston's training camp observations

Flacco more up than down

Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis

Monday was a sluggish day of practice for the Ravens. You almost expected that to happen because the Ravens had the big practice Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium, and there was going to be a letdown, especially in training camp. This was perhaps quarterback Joe Flacco's worst practice, and that's not bad because it was still fairly decent. But Flacco was slow finding receivers and pulling the trigger. He was hesitant on a lot of throws. Actually, he played like the Flacco of two years ago. I don't expect that to happen frequently, because his new coach, Jim Caldwell, is a stickler on fundamentals. He corrects all flaws -- even the little ones.

Monday was a sluggish day of practice for the Ravens. You almost expected that to happen because the Ravens had the big practice Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium, and there was going to be a letdown, especially in training camp. This was perhaps quarterback Joe Flacco's worst practice, and that's not bad because it was still fairly decent. But Flacco was slow finding receivers and pulling the trigger. He was hesitant on a lot of throws. Actually, he played like the Flacco of two years ago. I don't expect that to happen frequently, because his new coach, Jim Caldwell, is a stickler on fundamentals. He corrects all flaws -- even the little ones. (Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)

Coach John Harbaugh complimented outside linebacker Sergio Kindle (pictured) after practice Monday, but wait until he sees the tape. In the one-on-one blocking session, Kindle got mauled by tackles Ramon Harewood and Kelechi Osemele. It's not often that you see a defensive player's knees buckle, but Kindle's caved in twice as if he had just gotten hit with a Joe Frazier left hook. Speaking of Osemele, he works downfield well to block when the ball is run to the opposite side of the field. You don't see that often in this league during training camp.

Coach John Harbaugh complimented outside linebacker Sergio Kindle (pictured) after practice Monday, but wait until he sees the tape. In the one-on-one blocking session, Kindle got mauled by tackles Ramon Harewood and Kelechi Osemele. It's not often that you see a defensive player's knees buckle, but Kindle's caved in twice as if he had just gotten hit with a Joe Frazier left hook. Speaking of Osemele, he works downfield well to block when the ball is run to the opposite side of the field. You don't see that often in this league during training camp. (Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam)